ANA deepens bet on eSIM startup trifa as airline apps expand
What's the deal? ANA HoldingsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is increasing its investment in trifaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Japanese travel eSIM company, in a late-stage round led by the ANA Future Frontier FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and ANA Holdings, announced in July 2026. trifa lets international travellers buy and manage mobile data across more than 200 countries and regions without a Wi-Fi router or physical SIM swap.
Why now? This is not ANA's first move. The group first invested in October 2024, then tested the partnership through ANA Mileage Club redemptions and employee use abroad. The new round deepens a relationship that has already produced practical use cases.
What's the endgame? ANA says it will support trifa's international growth using its network of 55 routes across 40 cities. trifa plans to expand in East Asia and move into adjacent services such as payments and transport booking, fitting ANA's ambition to improve the journey before, during, and after the flight.
trifa passed two million downloads by April 2026, with overseas sales now roughly 10% of its revenue. Connectivity is attractive because it produces value the moment a passenger lands — enabling disruption alerts, digital boarding information, ground transport, and loyalty offers.
What could go wrong? The equity position gives ANA more influence over product development and loyalty integration than a typical white-label deal — but also more exposure if trifa struggles to scale beyond Japan. The proposition may also be less compelling for long-stay visitors needing a local number, travellers with non-eSIM devices, or price-sensitive users.
The signal: The airline app is becoming a travel control centre covering hotels, transport, payments, loyalty, and connectivity. LATAMDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → promotes eSIM activation in its app, AirAsia MOVE bundles free-data promotions, and Airalo is targeting airline distribution through APIs. With the GSMA reporting in 2026 that 73% of mobile network operators now offer commercial eSIM services, the question is shifting from whether travellers will use eSIM to which company will own the moment of purchase.
Read more: Alertify
Image credit: MattHurst
